Digest

Long Beach : 'Carnaval' Hits and Misses

There is good news, bad news and potentially more good news for the promoters of "Carnaval"--last Saturday's daylong downtown festival, billed as the first large Brazilian-style carnival in Southern California.

The good news is that the festival was a hit. Coordinator Lou Moreno estimated that 40,000 people watched the parade and listened to entertainers such as Poncho Sanchez and Jose Feliciano. Police Chief Lawrence Binkley reported no major problems.

The bad news is that the event lost money. The promoters are still figuring out how much.

The potential good news for Downtown Long Beach Associates and other promoters of the festival is that officials of the city Redevelopment Agency said this week that they will consider contributing $30,000 to offset the losses. The agency already gave the event $9,450.